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The Hawker Siddeley P.1154: Britain’s Supersonic Jump-Jet

by Hush Kit

The dream of a supersonic STOVL (Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing) fighter has been striven towards for over half of the history of heavier-than-air flight. When the F-35B enters service with the USMC, at some point after 2014, it will be a very significant event. Lockheed Martin will have succeeded where dozens of the world’s greatest aircraft design houses have failed. The tortuous road which led, via the Harrier, to the F-35B started with NATO requirement NBMR-3 of 1961. This almost led to a British superfighter, the Hawker P.1154.